You me at Six - a five-some from Surrey who have been playing progressively larger venues over the years and toured numerous chart topping records to much acclaim worldwide. Germany however, has not seen much of them and hasn’t necessarily been their favourite place to play either. That explains why their return today, seems to have sparked great excitement in the German fans who have been waiting patiently on this very moment.
Opening their show at Schlachthof with the title track of their new album “Night People”, the audience are immediately enticed to join in with their new, carefully developed alternative rock sound, which they have been working towards for the past nine years. Wanting to become a bit grungier, whilst retaining their own sound, they once again used the expertise of producer Jacquire King (Kings of Leon) to guarantee that sound on their new album, which has been torn to pieces by the German press as lame copies of Snow Patrol and a mediocre follow up to their first #1 UK album “Cavalier Youth” in 2014.
But the critics are wrong. “Night People” is an album, which needs to be played on stage to appreciate the evolution of You me at Six.
Josh Franceschi’s lyrics are not that different to what we are used to, his presentation at this gig however reminded us of a teenage heartthrob who is trying to show he can do what a recent Alex Turner or a young Eddie Vedder can. His vocals are by far the best they have been in years- “Stay with Me”, presented with a strong harmony for a change - and when Josh gets a little weary, what better to let the audience do the singing for you. “Bite My Tongue” follows in a similar fashion.
Max Helyer and Chris Miller on guitars kept the rock’n’roll riffs clean and tidy, absolutely loved the bass – Matt Barnes-, no idea why it stood out, but it did. Musically YMAS have moved on in a good way and though I get the feeling all was not perfectly rehearsed, they did good.
The audience jump, sing, join in without being encouraged and perhaps it was this enthusiastic crowd at Schlachthof that Franceschi had to admit that the Germans had more to offer other than Özil and Mertesacker (due to Arsenal’s shockingly awful current form). The introduction of “Take on the World” takes on a more emotional touch as very serious subjects are addressed, like the refugee crisis. Franceschi adds how extremely grateful he is for the German kindness and all round attitude to it. Should bands be politically open? No, but they should show compassion and empathy. You me at Six did so both lyrically and by gesture. Nice one.